• A reminder: If you want to ask an RP thread creator if you can join their RP, do so in private - via conversation or profile messages - or via the thread's discussion thread, if one exists. Do NOT ask if you can join an RP on the RP thread itself! This leads to a lot of unnecessary OOC chatter and that's not what the RP boards are for.

    This is clearly stated in our RP forum rules. If you've not read them yet, do so BEFORE posting anything in the RP forums. They may be found here (for Pokémon Role Play) or here (for General Role Play). Remember that the Global Rules of Pokécharms also apply in addition to these rule sets.
  • Welcome back to Pokécharms! We've recently launched a new site and upgraded forums, so there may be a few teething issues as everything settles in. Please see our Relaunch FAQs for more information.

Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

Tomiko had to raise her eyebrow at Mori's comment. Something he wanted to tell her? Well she could understand that much, she shared his view that a fight away from solid ground had not been favorable to them but she could not help but wonder what it was he wanted to tell her, and the fact he prefaced this by saying how he acted as Mr. Tough Guy which only made Tomiko wonder all the more what he had to say to cause this sudden change in tone.

"Sure man, what is it?" Tomiko asked, as she had been mindful to keep pace with Guren even as she kept the conversation going with Mori.

----------
"I might be able to pick up a sent, but it is harder to track across the sea as opposed to dry land. Though I am confident I can still help get us going, and the target's sent should be stronger whereever he made landfall." Aisha explained, as both she and Kenji had taken note of Taji's comment and the fact her calm composure seemed to have momentarily slipped which showed this sudden obstacle had been disconcerting.

Given that panic could only hurt them, Kenji decided to assure her as somebody had to.

"Alright, I think your suggestion is solid all the same. I trust Aisha, but we need to help get her nose in the right direction and any information we can pick up on where the Jinchuriki went can only help." Kenji said, as he spoke in support of Taji's idea. Given Darui had been busy with getting a boat this could allow them to pass the time, whatever they had, and contribute to the mission in the same manor.

"Alright, I think we should meet back here with whatever information we manage to get." Aisha suggested, as she had also shown support for Taji's suggestion and seemed eager to begin.

----------
Tayuya had an eyebrow raised, as her questions which seemed to concern the Curse Mark and the lack of weapons she had on hand were vaguely addressed at the very best if not outright ignored.

Still, she would follow Hinagiku all the same. No sense complaining about this. If it was a tracker, or if it was just some cheap prop to fuck with them it didn't matter as it had been her best bet to let this play out regardless. Opportunity still had a chance to present itself, even with these confined circumstances and if nothing else a chance of scenery form this damned compound would have been appreciated.

----------
Takato had managed to make it by the gates of the Hyuga Compound as he noted Shura and Sagsio had gathered by the courtyard.

Takato had not been much for small talk, so he simply opted to find a wall nearby to lean his back against as he waited fro Hinagiku to arrive with whoever else she strung along for this task.
 
Last edited:
Mori took a few deep breaths before talking rather fast, as if he wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible. "You know that I am capable of quite some things. I passed the academy after skipping most of the classes, I can use and create my own elemental jutsu, I fought Reaver twice, survived and won atleast once and I can sew the head of a teddy bear back onto the body. But I can't...I can't.." He shook his head and grew angry about his incapability of speaking around Tomiko lately when alone, even in his mind he stuttered.

"I can't swim!" Mori exclaimed, quickly covering his mouth in case someone heard him and looked down in shame. "I would never be allowed to go on such a mission if I told anyone, so I lied about it. Point is, the Land of Water kinda needs you to be able to swim. Can I trust you to help me when I need it? I promise I will make up for it when we come back." He glanced at Tomiko with his version of puppy eyes, which wasn't much more than his regular expression but with his eyes opened more.

Welp, I just lost manliness points. Gonna be fun regaining them.

---------------------------------------------

Taji's slip up soon got corrected as her face became stoic and calculating again as she turned towards Kenji and Aisha. "Fair enough, and any bit of information can help us. This can range from someone renting a boat and not returning it to someone getting tipsy at a bar. Let's go then." She said with a resolute tone as she made her way towards some fishermen. Well, I suppose I could have gotten worse teammates. Maybe I should loosen up a bit? Don't think that either of them would complain.

"Excuse me, but have you seen anyone who crossed the border lately?" Taji asked the two fishermen who were reeling in their nets. "Hmm, not that I can think of, sorry." Taji thanked the fishermen for their time and continued her search, rather confident that the jinchuriki needed a boat to cross the ocean. They couldn't have just turned into an octopus and swam away, right?
 
Hinagiku

"The tags are made from a special type of metal, not excessively rare, but it contains the rather unique property of conducting and retaining chakra well. Try not to lose them."

Off-handedly providing an explanation, Hinagiku strolled into the Hyuga courtyard, taking notice that most of her team had already gathered. She didn't stop, merely gesturing for them to follow her, "You'll be briefed as we travel, you'll be free to pose any questions during the briefing. We'll rendezvous with team Kakashi, they shouldn't have left yet, and travel together while we work out a plan of action."

With a flip of her wrist, an Anbu mask was withdrawn from the shadows of her sleeves, one bearing the same design as those given to Sagiso, Shura and Takato. After slipping the white mask onto her face, she spoke as if by an afterthought, "Tayuya... Your weapons and seal will be dealt with once we approach a zone with higher risk of combat. They aren't necessary now."

Her attention shifted towards Takato, the finality in her voice leaving no room for discussion on Tayuya's end, "That mask...was not meant for you. You aren't required to wear it." Her voice floated through the air with a hint of ambiguity, she wouldn't impose the Hyuga crested Anbu masks on the non-Hyuga members of her team. She was well aware of how others might view her actions, but she would also be observing their reactions.

For those who doubted the Hyuga's near century of loyalty...well, they would certaintly take the chance to rear their ugly heads from their burrows, and she'd take note of all of them. However, for anyone who wasn't already opposed to the Hyuga Clan, any seeds of doubt that might've sprung forth would've been stifled by a bit of thought. For one, if she really had been planning something untoward, then she wouldn't have been so liberal by display her intentions -quite literally- all over her face. Another point would be; she'd brought a Nara with her, and unless the Nara Clan was also in on this ploy of hers, she would've welcomed a spy into her abode. This was also without mentioning that her daughter would be travelling with Kakashi, she'd essentially handed over a hostage to be used against her.

It didn't take much thought to realize that her current actions were incongruent with most lines of thought that suggested the Hyuga had 'ulterior motives'. Nevertheless, those who were set on finding fault would indeed find fault. There would certainly be reprecussions to her actions, but their severity would be a good way to gauge the Hyuga Clan's standing among the figures of authority.

When such stressful thoughts had finally left her mind, Hinagiku noticed she'd arrived at the Village's main gates. Strutting over to Kakashi, her poise and gait emanating confidence and conviction, she asked cooly, "Shall we depart?"

Hyoryugetsu

Pleased and self-satisfied, the Hozuki moved away, peeling herself off Tsuki's body and leaving the girl completely dry. "It's rude to laugh like that when you're inside someone, you know? Well, I'll spare you this time~"
 
Last edited:
Tomiko listened, her face stone cold and serious as she wanted to take what Mori had to say with the utmost attention to detail. This had been obviously a major concern he had and if Tomiko wanted any chance to resolve it she needed to listen carefully. After all, something that troubled Mori had to be a deeply rooted issue that had no guarantee for an easy solution.

"I can't swim!"

Tomiko blinked, as she had a dumbfounded look on her face, not so much that Mori was "unmanly" for being unable to swim, but rather that she had expected a deeper trauma rather than just a "basic" phobia. After a minute which allowed for Tomiko to process what Mori had said, she broke into a more....amused expression as she shook her head before she looked Mori in the eye.

"Well, I have done some dumpster diving in my day. And I have been eager to take advantage of the foreign lands of Konoha for some swimming so I know a thing or two there. If you need help if what we do involves swimming you have my word that I will be there for you." Tomiko assured with a thumbs up...before she developed a little sly smirk.

"Besides, wouldn't want you to dwell on the fear of the monster that is oversized puddles when we have bigger things to focus on." Tomiko said, her tone playful as she had not meant much offense and really she aimed to try and get Mori to laugh about the whole thing so the fear of his inability to swim would not dominate his mind.

------
"Excuse me, have any of you gentleman seen or heard about a curious traveler through these parts?" Aisha asked a group of people by a market cart, and as she had given the general description of who this person looked like based on Darui's report (Though naturally had excluded any specifics on who the person is) and unfortunately she had the same luck Taji had.

Kenji had not fared much better, as he asked a pair of fishermen on the dock about the Jinchuriki but none of them seemed to know much of anything. Naturally, this frustrated the lightning user, as the only possible signs of achievement anywhere had been from Darui who seemed to have a man show him around some available boats for use.

"Oh, looking for something young man? I might be able to help ya."
Kenji glanced over, as he saw what appeared to be an old and if he had to be honest quite frail old man with dark skin, an old & quite large white beard and a straw hat. Not excatly a sight he had expected to see today, but all things considered he had no other leads to go by and figured that some inquiry could not hurt as he walked over to him.

"Alright, tell me what you know about this certain girl who may have passed through here..."
----------
Tayuya rolled her eyes on the "promise" of weapons to come when they would meet up with this Kakashi's team. As she followed Hinagiku given that the Hyuga Head seemed done with this discussion in any event. Typical of someone with a stick firmly up their ass the Oto-prisoner figured as they approached Takato and company.

Takato glanced up as Hinagku seemed to personally address him on the topic of the mask. Seems that had been a mistake on her part, though she had made no mention of the tag which seemed to show that that had been intentional on her end. Takato had no means to guess what the intent or point behind this but he presumed it would be but a major headache.

"Well then, your Hyuga deliverer should be reminded of that issue. More importantly, what am I to do with my Konohgakure Headband given it seems to clash with the group's new symbol?" Takato asked as he pointed on his headband that had been wrapped around his arm with the Konohgakure symbol visible for all to see. Either way he followed Hingaku along with Tayuya as they approached Kakashi's group.

Kakashi cast an eye towards Hinegaku, as he had not been oblivious to the tags or mentions of the masks that Takato still had visible on his belt which only caused the Jonin to sigh. Hinagiku had typically been one to play these little strategic games even among people who were supposed to be her fellow villagers and allies. Go test the waters so to say, rather needlessly and with much paranoia in his view. And more concerning, who seemed to prioritize her personal grudge over the mission which allowed Kakashi to make one educated guess on her motives.

"I suppose so. Though we are lagging on a member who seemed eager to join. And it also depends on whether it is the mission you are here to do and not just using it as an excuse for your personal passion project. I understand time may not heal all wounds in this instance, but holding onto this Kumo grudge does not make our job any easier and only serves to risk compromising things." Kakashi explained casually as he closed his copy of Icha Icha Paradise before he looked Hinagiku in the eye with his lone visible one.

Sakura glanced back and forth between the two Jonin, as she had been mostly confused by what her sensei said to Hinagiku's group or what this had been all about.

"It bares repeating, but we as ninja are not meant to let personal feelings come into play. I'm sure you have your "practical" reasons for this to explain to Lady Tsunade, but this is a textbook example of that. Lady Hinagiku." Kakashi replied with his usual cool demeanor. Though he had been ready to set out all the same....even if there was a mission head yet to be accounted for.
 
Hinagiku

"Does it..?" The profound glint in her eyes sparkled beneath her mask, she gazed deeply at Takato, her voice lyrical, "Do the two symbols clash..? Well, wear whichever you feel comfortable with."

Within a few steps, she travesed the distance between herself and Furijia, her palm coming to a rest a top her daughter's head. Gentle maternal strokes carried Hinagiku's fingers through the dark locks of Furijia's hair in -if the content expression of pleasure on Furijia's face was any judge- what was a comforting pet. Her gaze lingered upon Furijia's figure, a fondness emanating from her being. Lifting her head her eyes difted towards Sagiso, where after a brief pause, it continued onto Shura, before finally settling onto Kakashi.

"...before I am a shinobi, I am a mother, and leader of the Hyuga Clan -my family. You need not worry that our ability to complete the mission will be compromised. Divide and conquer, it's a rather suitable strategy for this outing don't you think? We'll focus on keeping the aggro off your team, and you complete the mission. That was we both win, our passion project will be satisfied, and you won't have our emotions interfering with your capture of the Jinchuriki. Sounds fair?"

Her eyes drifted away from Kakashi, her hands finding their way to Furijia's nose, pinching down as the girl flailed wildly in her grasp. With a hint of playful nonchalance, she continued, "We've got time to iron out the details if you're disatisfied, one of your members has still yet to arrive, yes?"
 

SageNeb

Previously 5DigitNeb
Raiku nodded and decided to retrieve the necessities that he needed for the mission. He was walking along the path to his home until he saw a familiar face which caused him to stop.

"You going after that Jinchuriki?"

"S-Shisui-sensei! Y-yea... H-how'd you know?"

The Uchiha Anbu gave a sly smile to his student and then winked.

"I have my methods... but enough about that."

Suddenly his expression grew serious.

"Don't use that combination with Ramer unless you need to... stick to the normal jutsus. I don't want you getting hurt because you want to show off or anything."

Raiku looked at the ground for a moment but then looked back at his sensei with a confident expression and gave him a thumbs up.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll beat the enemy without even having to try!"

"Heh.. whatever you say... welp I'm off, you Genin aren't the only ones with assigned missions relating to this Jinchuriki, after all."

Before Raiku had a chance to say goodbye the Anbu used his signature jutsu and disappeared, as if he was never there...

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

He finally reached the village gates and was a bit disappointed that he was the last one there. He walked over to Taiyo and gave his friend an eye smile.

"Sorry I'm late, but I ran into someone I know. But now I'm ready and good to go!"

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Setchi looked up and down at Azumi to make sure she didn't have any hidden weapons but still made another Earth spear and took it out in a defensive stance. She carefully went inside her house, each step getting closer to Azumi as she explained herself.

"I'm in no position to trust you, so forgive me if you really need medical help for your friends. But at the very least I need you to explain how you got here in the first place and who you are."
 
‘A metal that can conduct and retain chakra? What?’

If he wasn’t already, Kiro had become extremely suspicious of the tag. The functionality of such an object piqued Kiro’s interest. Did it work like a bomb? Once enough chakra was stored, would it erupt if he made the slightest mistake? Then again, had that been the case, why would he choose to hold on to it when throwing it away would be much simpler?

Considering Hinagiku had also stated it was a tracker, it could be safe to assume that the byakugan would be able to locate it, even if he tossed it aside. At the very least, they could track down his last known location. But that still wouldn’t be worth the risk. Either the tag could memorize his chakra and track him down to the ends of the earth or it was nothing of actual importance.

However, his thoughts were once again put on hold when they met up with Kakashi and his team. Anyone with half a brain would be able to notice the tension in the air. From what Kiro could tell, the Hyūga head held some grudge against Kumo. So much so that she outright stated that they had their separate goals. More importantly, Kiro also caught the fact that being a shinobi was secondary to the Hyūga head.

Kiro was confused at first when he heard that, feeling that he had looked at Hinagiku wrongly this whole time. He had looked up to her as if she was an all powerful being, capable of raining down judgement on all those she saw fit. However, she held the mentality of a mother over everything else. He watched curiously as Hinagiku toyed with her daughter. A god holding an exploitable weakness...

‘Disappointing.’

Kiro let out a sigh and ran his right hand through his hair before hesitantly raising it as if he were a student at school.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but since I’m only now hearing about this passion project, where do I fit in?”
 
Azumi kept her umbrella, but in a defensive position and showed no signs of aggression even as Setchi approached as she made her demands crystal clear. And in truth, she could not fault the girl for wanting that much alone as it had been a perfectly reasonable request.

Least she had been willing to talk. Azumi had to count her blessings that she had not reached the unreasonable full on attack stage given the circumstances.

"Alright, I can explain but to get the full story I need time to explain myself. Just give me that time and I promise I will explain everything. Though if you want the short version: They got into a fight with each other and before I had the chance to deescalate the situation they both were put in critical condition. I can add on details, but I need assurance that you will not try to strike me while I do so." Azumi explained, and perhaps as a show of restraint she had taken her umbrella and placed it behind her back as she showed she was now unarmed. Azumi hoped this would be enough to convince the girl she meant no harm, though kept herself at the ready in case it had been needed.

----------
"Woah look out!"

"Um, is that somebody's dog?"

"No way, that's a wolf!"

Onlookers of the harbor town had been caught with a curious sight. A lone wolf, Sky, had been on a mad dash through the streets as it seemed the ninja wolf had a clear purpose. And before long, managed to arrive where Taji had been and tried to get her attention the only way it could with a non-Inuzuka.

"Bark! Bark!"​

Sky barked out loudly, while the male wolf also tilted his head to the side and tried to communicate non-verbally that he wanted Taji to follow her somewhere. Where? Taji had no way to guess but it appeared to be important and if one had to guess it involved Aisha and/or Kenji to some capacity.

----------
"What do you think you moron, we are the fodder for the team. What other reason would she have to place two criminals on the squad? We are the definition of expendable." Tayuya replied when she had overheard Kiro's question, as he seemed to place more thought on the purpose of the tags they had been given rather than why they were selected at all. Which to Tayuya had been rather obvious as there had been no other explanation why prisoners were selected for this if the Leaf had not already gotten all they needed from them and as such could be placed on suicide missions to die for their causes.

Naturally, this was also her guess why she had no weapons and the seal still secure around her Curse Mark. So she could be as weak as possible just for this essential death row outing. Well, Tayuya had not been prepared to just die off so easily. Like expendable garbage, she was determined to stick it to them and survive and her dreams of escape someday acted as main motivation.

Takato himself had to make a decision. Hinagiku seemed to give him freedom as far as this had been concerned, naturally the mask was a no go given it had been a mistake anyway. It was a matter of whether he'd accept the tag or not. He had no loyalty to the Hyuga and in truth he felt this crusade of theirs and whatever issue they had with Kumo was more of a pain than it was worth. Still, if the point of these tags was to portray the illusion that the Hyuga was acting outside of Konoha's watch then he'd play along as he placed the tag on.

If this lady seriously thinks that a squad of Hyuga with a token Nara and a pair of prisoners are somehow not operating under Konoha's watch then quite frankly she must believe that foreign leaders are morons. I got a bad feeling this is all gonna come back to bite us.

"It would be a suitable strategy, if the only third party we had to concern ourselves with was Kumo. However, given what is at stake here it would be naive to assume that this is a mere three way race involving Oto and Kumo. Single minded focus can be a faulty mindset with this many potential suitors." Kakashi pointed out, before his lone eye noted that Raiku had made his arrival as he cast him a glance before he turned back to the two teams.

"Well, appears the gang is all here." Kakashi pointed out with his usual tone of voice. Regardless of his reservations behind Hinagiku's plan, nothing about could be done now. He was certain Tsunade had been informed of this, and if she had not stopped them yet that could only mean their forces had been that thin that they could not afford to bench someone the caliber of Hinagiku in spite of her questionably insubordinate though in his view simply personally driven crusade under the guise of the mission.
 
Mori sighed in relief as Tomiko agreed on helping him. "Half expected you to laugh at me, thank you so much for helping me!" He said with a small grin on his face that only grew as Tomiko referred to his inability to swim as his fear for oversized puddles. "Ah yes, my greatest enemy. Oversized puddles. I think that it is about time that I started to face that, and what is the worst that can happen apart from drowning? Just need to take it easy and not leap into the deep end."

"And one more thing, I am not saying that you are a pervert, but if you are gonna peep when I try to swim by myself, atleast make sure that you won't get caught. You are a ninja after all and you are a bad one if a genin notices you." Mori said with a grin as he ruffled her hair. "Come on, we don't want to keep Lady Guren waiting do we?" He asked as he broke into a run towards Guren, letting out a short, bark-like laugh as he imagined Tomiko diving into a dumpster. Dumpster diving, wouldn't that be a sight to see? Must be some big mess if you miss the dumpster.

----------------------------------------

Taji was unable to find any information on the jinchuriki and was pretty bummed about it, until she reached a tavern. She heard someone say that only kids and drunk people told the truth and she was about to test that. Of course she would not be allowed inside with her current appearance, so a few modifications had to be made. "Transformation jutsu!" A cloud of smoke covered her body and quickly dispersed to reveal a Taji in her early 20's.

She entered the tavern and to her surprise it was relatively empty, only two customers were inside although judging by their scent they certainly made up for their few numbers with the amount of alcohol they consumed. She scowled inwardly at the sight of the two drunk men. I don't see the appeal of alcohol, it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable of people into complete scoundrels. As if to prove her point, one of the drunk men began to hit on her.

"Hey, sweet cheeks! What are you doing here?" Taji was surprised that the man could even speak clearly with this amount of alcohol in his system, but she hid her reaction as usual and answered the man's question. "I am here to find a certain person, have you seen anyone cross the border lately?" She asked the man who got up from his chair. "Welll, you found him. What do ya sssay?" The man responded, clearly not looking at her eyes but about 8 degrees south from them.

Taji was getting fed up with this drunk fool and she made no attempt to hide it. "Listen here you drunk toerag. I described the person I was looking for and you do not fit the description, not to mention I don't play for your team. You either give a decent answer or I'm leaving." She didn't yell at him, yet her anger was clear for anyone to hear as the barkeeper stopped polishing a glass and prepared for a fight to break out.

"Wwwhat? You ungrateful bit-" The man raised his fist whilst talking but was given no option to finish speaking as Taji swatted his arm away and jabbed the solar plexus of the man, causing him to fall forward in excruciating pain. "I see I have wasted my time here. Good day." She said with an icy voice and left the building, leaving the barkeeper to deal with the injured man. Outside she cancelled the jutsu and continued her search.

"Scum, every last one of them." She spat as she heard people talk about a wolf, although she had no time to think about it as said wolf was in front of her and barked at her whilst tilting their head. "Aren't you one of Aisha's wolves? Did she find something? Lead the way then!" She ordered the wolf and followed it, doing her best to keep up with it which thankfully wasn't as hard as it could be since the villagers moved out of the way the moment they saw Sky. I hope that Aisha and Kenji found something, since I only found a drunk pervert!
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
Reaver huffed at the lack of response from baiyan, looking to the side of the room away from her. He couldn’t stand the silent types. They were annoying to argue against and they weren’t satisfying to kill. Waste of space really.

“What? Talking trash in battle and silent off of it?”

Reaver took a metal hinge off a nearby cabinet, keeping it hidden from the blind Baiyan. He subtly sharpened the tool he now had, not one to be caught powerless.


.......


Hama clapped her hands together toward her group. She could make do with these little rascals. If they haven’t killed each other at this point, it was looking up for them.

“Alright cannon fodder, lets get to moving along~” Hama spoke in her sing song voice.

“That...isn’t funny...”

Kai rolled his eyes at His aunt, putting his hunter nin mask on, fastening it behind his head. He was ready. He needed this to prove himself. Maybe if he brought the Xeno beast back himself then he can prove to his father about his resolve to unbanish Kiro and give him the treatment he needs.


........



Kabuto stood in a room, Yukimaru and Kin on the other side of it. Yukimaru had bowed respectfully to him while kin just put wrists to her hip, her claws in the air. She didn’t seem to care much about this meeting.

“Just what is this about?” Kin hissed.

“Patience Kin. Wouldn’t want to lose that temper of yours.” Kabuto corrected her, putting his glasses on right.

“Please do calm down...” Yukimaru spoke up, rubbing his head. “I don’t like it when it when you get angry...it stresses me out...”

Kabuto paced back and forth in the room, looking over some notes he had written for himself. Ninja info cards. Several which were crossed out. Hashima, Mizuki, Jako, amongst others. Several names were circled. He plucked one of these circled names. Showing it to the pair.

“I need this one’s blood. It’s an impressive bloodline, one I haven’t acquired yet. Kill if you must, it makes little difference to me. Just acquire that blood.”

“FINALLY! I can kill without consequence!” Kin grinned madly.”

“Yukimaru.” Kabuto gestured toward Kin. “Keep her in check. Keep the collateral damage on the down low.”

“It will be done Kabuto sensei.”

“They’ll be occupied with the eight tails jinchurki, their defense will be low. This will be quick and painless. Get it done and don’t die.”

The two ninja wasted now time setting off toward their destination. Kabuto smirked, looking to the circled name. His collection was nearing completion. He just needed a few more to finish his shipment...
 

sSoul

Previously Swirled
Taiyo
It was truly relieving to see a familiar face in the form of Raiku, especially since all these Hyuga just seemed to appear out of the middle of nowhere, although they probably had a rather realistic entrance and Taiyo just wasn't paying attention.

"Well glad you could make it to the party. We even got some unexpected, but not unwelcome guests," The Leaf-nin greeted his Uchiha companion as he subtly motioned to the Hyuga. He had some aversion to speaking to them, mainly that if he did, he was afraid that Furijia would tell them about the time where her clothes got destroyed and he got accused of perversion, both of which would probably sound a lot worse coming from her mouth than his, so it was best not to engage in conversation.

Wait, whats even going on?

Good thing we arent supposed to be the leaders of this thing, and even better thing that knowing what's going on won't really affect us in the long run, since we tend to go with the flow anyway.

Yeah, I guess so, anyways, I'm bored, got anything to help.

Well we could always talk to our friends, but we don't know what the topic of discussion is, so its better to keep our mouths shut.

True, true.

Tsuki
The Yuki-nin struggled to regain composure after Hyoryugetsu's tickle attack, but her laughter was stifled by the remark that was made after being released.

"It's rude to laugh like that when you're inside someone, you know? Well, I'll spare you this time~"

Wait...spare me, of what? Why would I need to be spared? I HAVE MULTIPLE QUESTIONS! But maybe some will be answered while we do this mission.

"Sorry if I hurt you by my wild laughter...I had no intentions of such," Tsuki told the Hozuki maiden with a pang of minor regret in her voice, which later took backseat as she waited for Hama to head off.
Seiun
"Okay cool, although this brings up the question, what are we going to do with this Jinchuriki once we have her? Are we gonna kill her and take the tailed beast, or are we going to try and reason with her? I'm sure there's still some human left to reason with and if we are taking that route, who's going to do the reasoning?" The rouge shinobi inquired as he met up with his mistress to ensure her safety. Even if she seemed fine, Hyo was no officially on the "less than normal" list of Seiun, but at least she wasn't Hama levels of weird.
 
Hinagiku

"Keep your eyes on the prize, not your competition. Leave all those suitors to me."

Withdrawing a small sheet of paper from her sleeve, she pushed it into Kakashi's hands. Leaving him with a firm look she conveyed her intentions, "We'll be departing first then."

Written on the paper were a set of directions for a rendezvous point several miles ahead, as well as her more...intricate plans. It gave a brief description of the function of the Hyuga tags located on Kiro and Tayuya's person.

While the tags themselves weren't anything special, their ability to retain chakra when combined with the Byakugan's ability to distinguish the unique colorization of a shinobi's chakra meant that they could be infused with a specific type of chakra, and then serve as distinctly visible 'targets' painted on the back of whoever held them. Takato's tag, for example, had retained a sliver of Hinagiku's chakra, and she would be able to ascertain his location as long as he was within the range of her Byakugan. The other tags were however, a bit different...


Sagiso

Having remained mostly silent throughout the entire exchange, the first time Sagiso's voice left her mouth was as she waved to the other team and wished them 'Good Luck'. Without further ado, she made like a duckling and followed after her mother.

Furijia

Waving off her family as they departed, Furijia returned to her team's side, standing a set distance away from Taiyo. Her eyes swam back and forth as her nerves begun to quiver with a discomforting anticipation.
Baiyan

"...my apologies, little Iris couldn't tell what you were and had pinned you as a 'creature', but more importantly, is the one who brought us here your wife?"

Seeing as Reaver had gotten up, Baiyan decided to jump straight into matters of importance. She could faintly feel the ripples of chakra stirred from the ongoing battle a distance away from them, however, their low intensity and frequency gave the impression that it was nothing serious.

Yasu

Carefully eyeing what he assumed was Madoka's new puppet, Yasu nodded, "Come to think of it...I wonder if I could hide feathers within your puppets? I'd be a nasty surprise don't you think?" A sly grin crossed his face as he brought up the topic of a cooperation ninjutsu. A team was wasted if the members failed to augment each other's strengths and stifle their weaknesses.

Hyoryugetsu

With the arrival of the other members of the team, Hyoryugetsu fell silent, a jovial smile spreading across her lips as she dismissed Tsuki's worries. Slipping into a more serious attitude she kept her eyes on Hama, and briefly Seiun -who appeared to have little to no clue about the details of the mission, clearly he was the 'meatshield' Hama spoke of.

She smiled towards Seiun, a bright smile -perhaps one of the few he would see before he was sacrificed for the mission. A clueless man marching towards death deserved at least her sympathy, right?
 
"That's the spirit! Face your fear head on, don't let it control you. Just remember and know I will be there with you every step of the way. You have my word on that." Tomiko said with a smile, before she overheard Mori's pepping comment as he passed her up to keep pace with Guren which only caused Tomiko to roll her eyes; her hand brushed some hair behind her ear and the black feather memento Yasu had given her as she upped her pace to follow Mori & Guren.

"Gotta say, we may need to work on team chemistry if you have such low trust in me. I mean, such a wild accusation to make about me....I am insulted my good sir." Tomiko replied, though that cheeky grin she had and her overly overacted tone had been clear indications to Mori that she had only been kidding.

"Besides, if I was gonna do that...you'd never know I was there. I am not careless in all areas." Tomiko added on, with a sly grin as she decided that little tidbit of playful banter back was a moment she simply could not pass up.

----------
Sky had led Taji away from that shameless pervert through the road of the quaint highway town. Soon enough, he regrouped with Luna as the Ninja Wolves led Taji to the docks where Kenji and Aisha had been waiting for her. Aisha's companions returned to their partner's side as she thanked them for finding her and helping Aisha herself find Kenji while the Lightning-nin turned to Taji.

"Alright, I did some digging and I think I got a lead. An old fisherman caught site of a girl who seemed to match the description of the Jinchuriki and when Darui secures a boat I should be able to help get us in the right direction. Then Aisha can hopefully pick up the sent again and we'd be back in business." Kenji explained to Taji as he relayed the general outline of what he managed to find.

During all this, Darui had been close to getting a fitting boat for the group. It was no inconspicuous cruise ship, but it would have had the size to fit the four of them plus the two dogs fine. In other words, more than suitable for the task at hand.

----------
"So long as you remember that it is suitors, and not suitor alone." Kakashi stressed, as he turned his lone eye onto the pages of Icha Icha Paradise as he began to walk with the others as he naturally took the lead with Hinagiku while the other ninja present followed behind them. Sakura had some relief that the little disagreement had been settled, though even that relief came with concern over what was to come.

Well, this team up could've gone better.

Well, least we are setting out. Hopefully the inter-team drama ends here.

Oh who are you kidding?

Sue me for being an optimist.

Fine line between optimism and foolishness.

Takato moved by Furijia while Tayuya moved by Sagiso, the Oto-prisoner's annoyance with all of this reflected on her disgruntled expression. In truth, Tayuya was by Sagiso cause of all the people she had interacted with she and Shura had been the least annoying. And in truth she'd have preferred the company of anyone as opposed to being close to that Uchiha.

------------
"That idea is interesting. To be truthful I have been considering how to work feathers into my new puppet anyway given one of Raven's main attacks. I think some combination work would be great, makes me regret not going to see you sooner." Madoka said to Yasu, as she seemed to like his suggestion of working his feathers with her puppets. Raven already used them as a weapon so it wouldn't have been that much of a stretch.

Pakura observed the two and had a small smile on her face. Seems they had been well acquainted, and already had been working on how to intergrete their styles together. This was good, coordination for a mission like this could be the difference between success and failure.

And Pakura had been determined to avoid failure.
"That's what I love to here. Now let's kick it into another gear. We've got a long way to go and I want us to gain some distance before the sun sets. So let's move!" Pakura called out with an authoritative tone, though there had been a touch of excitement in the Scorch Release nin as Madoka gave a nod and followed close behind.
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
“Her? Azumi? Ha! You must be kidding.” Reaver spoke in his deep voice. “She’s just an useful ally I haven’t decided when to kill yet.”

Just the thought of Azumi being in that sort of relationship with him sickened him. How could the blind girl possible guess that? Tch. Reaver noticed his scythe was missing from the back of his jumpsuit, and a burning pain in his spine area. He almost forgot. He always puts the scythe there, and when the suit melted...who knows what it did to the metal scythe. It was a good thing he couldn’t look back there, he didn’t want to see the damage.



......


Hama traced her lips when seiun asked his question, also taking note of their new member’s sympathetic smile. Hama’s lips curled into a smile, chuckling lightly.

“Oh your funny seiun. You assume that a jinchurki can be so easily reasoned with, considering it’s a traitor to it’s native village. But on the off chance that it can be reasoned with...hm...”

She looked to the potential candidates. Kai...was way to Xenophobic to be even in the runner up for the position. Seiun was rather...unsuccessful in that area considering his slave status. Hyo. Hyo was a wildcard. It was best to keep wildcards closeby. That left one.

“Tsuki will get the job~”

Kai rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like he was going to let it happen anyway. He was going to tranq the bitch, drag her behind to his father, and prove himself worthy of being trusted as a substantial power, while getting more people to see the ways of the Yuki as a successful one.
 

sSoul

Previously Swirled
Taiyo
Oh, we're doing this now.

That was the genin's thoughts as he tried to catch up to the team's that seemingly merged, or at leas they were travelling together, he honestly wasn't paying enough attention to really care, all he knew was that the Hyūga were their allies. As he caught up with the group he took a glance at Furījia, who still seemed to be a bit mad.

And to think we saved her life, and we didn't even get thanks for that.

Well that's cause we never told her, and now she probabky doesn't even want to hear about the time Raiku and I gave her CPR, she'd probably go on a rant about how I'm a pervert or something. And besides, I don't really care

That's a lie.

Yeah, you're right, I actually do care, but I'll wait till later to sort that out.

Taiyo then glanced over at Sakura, instinct telling him to talk to her, since she was the one that the Leaf-nin felt most comfortable around besides Raiku. And so listening to instinct, he walked over to his friend and gave her a greeting.

"Hey," Taiyo awkwardly began, since he usually didn't plan things when he listened to his instincts, "Do you think we're gonna capture the Jinchūriki, because I do. I mean, we have all these star players from Kohana, it seems impossible that we don't have at least somewhat of a good chance,"

Wow, real nice conversation starter.

Well I'd like you to come up with one.

...


Exactly, so keep your mouth shut unless you have something to back your claims.
Tsuki
“Tsuki will get the job~”

While these words were expected, the Yuki-nin still felt slightly surprised that she was selected. Regardless, Tsuki nodded as she began to turn in pages of her notebook to the shinobi that she had records on, including her own.

"Hama-sensei, surely other people will be after the Jinchūriki, after all getting such power in their hands is too good of an opportunity to pass up. With this in mind, do you have a plan go deal with not only the other villages as well as the Jinchūriki?"
Seiun
Turning over to Hyo, Seiun returned her smile rather nervously, since he still considered her to be a wild card, and he wanted to be as cautious as possible.

Why does it feel like they know something that I don't? Eh, it's probably nothing.
 
Yasu

"Well, before all that we'll need to get familiar with each other's new moves. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time during our breaks, perhaps tonight. For now, we've got ground to cover."

Leaving Madoka with a fleeting smile, Yasu picked up speed chasing behind Pakura. While traversing the monotonous, unchanging terrain, his eyes seemed to glaze over as he fell into deep thought. The hazy figure of a petite girl -her fair skin more often than not riddled in bruises, and her short brown hair and splash of freckles usually framing a stubborn, if slightly silly, smile.

'I wonder how Tomiko is doing...and, does she still have that feather..?'

Baiyan

Nodding to herself, the girl slid off the bed. "So that spot's free then?"

Barefooted as she was, her footfalls made light pitterpatters against the wooden flooring. She moved to an odd rhythm, dancing to an unheard score, her body, and chakra the only instruments in an invisible waltz. Short forceful steps followed long gentle strides. The sound created by her footsteps created different pitches and tones depending on where the vibration traveled. Hollow, unchanging thuds told her there was nothing in her way, slightly muffled thuds meant there was an object in her path than absorbed a portion of the vibrations that traveled through the floorboards. The direction, loudness of the muffling, speed at which the vibrations were absorbed... through a variety of miniscule, and usually unnoticeable changes, she was able to navigate the short distance between her own resting place and Reavers.

Slowly, cautiously, reservedly, she cotched herself on the edge of Reaver's bedding, her eyes opening as she directed a mute gaze in his general direction. She tucked an errant thread of vibrant pink hair behind her ear -it didn't change much, her hair was still very much disheveled from the earlier battle. From what she gathered, Reaver viewed people in the categories. Those to kill, those not to kill, and those he hadn't decided whether to kill or not. "Do you...wish to kill me then?"


Hinagiku

"Could you not...be so crass while standing next to me?"

Voice thick with displeasure, Hina's eyes leeringly swam over Kakashi, and more importantly the Icha Icha Paradise book in his hand. You'd think that when standing next to a lady, especially one of her own standing, the man would be more reserved about unabashedly pulling out his 'happy time' book. The nerve of some people!

"If you're gonna read that then Shoo! Shoo!"

Waving Kakashi off as one would shoo away a pest she gestured to a spot on the opposite end of their group.
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
“Never said that...” he muttered

Baiyan continued regardless, walking across the flooring, very carefully listening to her steps. What’s her game? She must be trying to finish me off to impress Azumi. Grr...it won’t get past me. The girl made it to the corner of his bed.

“Do you...wish to kill me then?”

“Eh? Tch!” Reaver shook a way a slight tings of pink, his gruff voice retaliating. “I wish you’d give me some damn personal space!”

Reaver wasn’t about to fall for some ploy. He only ever thought with his head. Cut out everything else. Only the brain matters. You could have kept your body sawed off and still live with your brain. He wasn’t about to trust any other part of him but that. If he hadn’t been thinking with his brain, he would never have donned the infamous suit in the first place! She MUST have some type of evil plot. He just knew it...!



......



“Hama-sensei, surely other people will be after the Jinchūriki, after all getting such power in their hands is too good of an opportunity to pass up. With this in mind, do you have a plan go deal with not only the other villages as well as the Jinchūriki?"

“Simple.” Kai interjected. “We slay them like the filthy animals they are. From dust they were, to dust they will be again!”

“Oh ho, isn’t that just like you Kai? Always seeing what’s right in front on you, but never behind it~” Hama spoke, her sing song voice shining through. “No. Instead we should let them kill each other. Why should we lift a sweat when others can beat us to the punch? After all, we will be traveling the least amongst them. We will have the most energy going in. Not to mention a stealth approach to boot, so they won’t even know we are there~”

Hama waggled a finger in the air and winked to her group. It seemed she had it all figured out. Kai has confidence in her, even if that was an unnerving confidence. As she tended to be right...but closely. A hair out of line could mean it all falling apart, and he knew it. This is going to be more difficult than he had anticipated...
 
Kakashi had merely glanced over Hinagiku's direction with his lone eyebrow raised as the Hyuga Head made an open critique about his choice of literature. A complaint that had been far from the first to reach his ears, as his own student and the Genjutsu Mistress Kurenai had made their disgust quite clear on more than one occasion. To the point that Sakura had openly nodded her head in agreement with Hinagiku as she heard her complaint with the book.

Hell yeah! You tell that perv!

"Crass Lady Hinagiku? I believe that is a strong exaggeration don't you think? It is not as if I am forcing you to read it, though quite honestly the plot is well structured and the characters have surprising devel..."

"Don't you dare pull that!"
"....anyway. I tend to just keep to myself with this, I do not ask or intend to make you have to watch me as I do so. Besides, it is a long trip and if nothing else this provides a distraction so you don't have to here me lecture your methods. And let's be honest, every ninja has their personal hobby to ease them and keep their minds focused on the mission at hand." Kakashi replied back as he offered his justifications for keeping the book around.

Sakura herself had been driven out of listening in on this conversation, as Taiyo asked her a question which caused her focus to shift to him. And it made her think it over

Well, we have Kakashi-sensei with us. And though he is a bit...crass, as Lady Hinagiku put it there's no one else I'd rather be with. Between him and the Head of the Hyuga Clan. I think we have a fair chance.

True, but we also are taking on what could be the entire ninja world. While we became a bit more badass, that is a lot to ask this group to take on and we have no idea what awaits us. The way I see it things either go well or we all die painful deaths.

Just a beacon of optimism and sunshine you are aren't you?

Hey, I said or. Not will, try to look at the positive of that.

Sakura continued her internal debate for what seemed like an eternity, but in truth had been but a few moments as she turned to Taiyo and gave her honest view.

"I...I do think we have a good chance. With Kakashi-sensei and Lady Hinagiku with us, I don't see why we can't succeed. Plus there are some strong guys among our age group with us." Sakura said, with a natural gesture to Sagiso and Kiro. She had not seen Shura directly in action, nor Takato, but she figured they had to be strong in their own right. Furijia also seemed to have made a massive leap in improvement if her snippit of the Takato fight had been anything to go by.

Tayuya was also someone to note, even if Sakura had reservations about how much they could trust her. Even more so than Kiro.

"But, it won't be easy. And who knows who else will be coming for the Jinchuriki. So we need to be focused and not hold anything back, could be the difference between success or failure. Life or death." Sakura added on, as while she believed they could do this they still needed to take caution and she wanted Taiyo to understand how serious this was bound to be.
 
Mori grinned at Tomiko's reaction. "Well, excuse me princess. I didn't mean to offend you. I trust you, I just am cautious. No one would be happy if they find out that they are being peeped upon, especially if they find out during the activity that caused others to peep on them. Sure, some might like it for some reason but most people would either scream and run or beat the living daylights out of the offender. So be prepared, as I could probably beat you into the ground. Which isn't too hard since you are rather small." He said as he raised his head to show that she was indeed smaller than him.

At the claim of him not being able to know when she would be peeping, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You and not being careless? What is this for witchery? I expected you to bring big lanterns and your gang to embarrass me in front of everyone, although stealthy Tomiko does sound amazing. Not too sure about not noticing you though, since I have random surges of sensing chakra for some reason. The last one was when I was about to be body-checked by that sled of yours although I couldn't react in time to prevent that crash." Mori said with a giggle as he thought about said scenario. "Well, I can only wait and see what you will do. Besides, there is no water nearby any time soon so we both can prepare for it."
----------
Taji was relieved to find out that Kenji was more succesful in finding a lead than her. "Good job, both of you for finding a lead and notifying me in a way that would make no sense to outsiders. I have had no luck, only found a drunk pervert who is now in excruciating pain. No need to feel pity for him, he deserved it." Her voice changed from warm for her standards to a new level of coldness when talking about the drunk man. "No need to dwell on it, the mission is more important. Has Darui Sensei gotten a boat already or not? I don't want to stay here any longer than needed in case there are more perverts here." She said as she looked over her shoulder. Although she was not as stern as she was in the beginning of the mission she was more tense now, probably because of what just happened to her.
 
When everyone else had started to walk away, Kiro had spent a few seconds staring at where Hinagiku once stood. The boy had just stood there, as if he were frozen in time before giving a nod of understanding to the nothingness that was before him. Perhaps Kiro had expected an order, acknowledgment, maybe even an answer to a question he deemed important to the success of the mission? Now due to that moment, Kiro trailed behind the group, a good ten feet away from the person in front of him.

‘Did that women choose too ignore me?’

The Uchiha didn’t know what reaction or expression to make. He was annoyed, then confused but eventually settled on amusement. Kiro pocketed his hands and shut his mouth, nearly biting his tongue while suppressing any possible reaction he could’ve given. Since Kiro was a prisoner, he deserved to be treated with little to no respect. That was understandable. In fact, Kiro would respectfully stay in his own group in the back, one that consisted of only himself.
 
Sakura would leave Taiyo to think over her comments, as she glanced over to Furijia who Taiyo had tried to speak with earlier. If Sakura had to guess, there was still some tension between the two and that tension could not be a good thing.

That could not happen. Sakura felt she had to try and mend this fence so that the two would not feel so adversarial to each other, and as such she walked over to Furijia and offered a friendly smile.

"Hey there. Apologies for Taiyo earlier. Just know he means well. If I had to pick up any silver linings, you seemed to have really come into your own since I last saw you. I only caught the tail end, but it appears you are more confident and and showed some improvements since we last met. I'm impressed." Sakura said, as she felt that a compliment had been the best way to begin as she wanted to get on Furijia's good terms and also snuck in a defense for Taiyo all in the same breath.

Sakura had no idea what the effect would be, but she could only hope she made a good first step to a conversation.

Tayuya meanwhile had been off thinking about her own thing, as she glanced at Kiro who seemed to be lagging behind. Seemed nobody wanted to associate with either of them and Kiro chose to dip back from the majority party. All alone.

Which was fine with her, he could whine about his Uchiha issues to himself while others dealt with actual problems.
 
Furījia

At the mention of the word confidence, her body grew rigid. A bitter smile grew on her lips, and the girl held her head down, "What makes you think...I'm confident?" As far as she saw it, she was the least confident person present. Within the confines of her own home, she had nothing to fear, but now that she was on a mission? That was a completely different story. She wanted to be confident, she truly did, but that was the furthest thing from who she was. Her eyes swam, landing upon Sagisō, and then her mother, Hinagiku. Specks of yearning were written out in her facial features. They were confident, it practically radiated off them...but she wasn't like them.

Perhaps it was some form of sorcery, or maybe it was a feeling of reassurance, Sakura had after all comforted her on their last mission, but the Hyūga girl begun to speak, recounting a tales of many months past, months before Sagisō had popped up within the Leaf Village.

===========================================================================

The rains fell heavily, blanketing a duo who made their way up a hill, this particular hill was presiding over a small hamlet, it’s population no more than a scant few hundred. From their figures, they appeared to be women, or rather, a woman, and a girl. The older of the two, the woman, appeared calm, but her expression beneath her mask was apologetic, even somewhat pitying as she gazed down at the girl to her side. The girl, remaining oblivious, spun playfully in the rain, her boot-clad feet finding every puddle, rivulet or small pond and pouncing upon the waterbodies with a puerile excitement. The masks worn by the duo were engraved with the spiraling leaf of Konoha, and upon their clothing, woven with bright fabrics, was the crest of the Hyūga clan.

On this night, the head of the Hyūga clan, as well as a large contingent of Hyūga, departed Konoha, making their way into the depths of the land of Fire, until they’d reached their current location. They brought with them several children, the creme de la creme of the Hyūga clan, the future leaders and pillars of the family.

Today was a special day, the first of it’s kind. With the end of the 3rd ninja war just a few years gone, a war so devastating even the children of the clan had been drafted to the battlefield -many never to return-, the Clan had adopted new policies to foster their younger generation. It went without saying that the current leaders of the family had been hardened through war, they were forced through a baptism of blood and suffering, like many of the era’s young shinobi.


However, just as many had gone through a complete baptism, overturning their worldviews, just as many, if not more, were crushed beneath the violent, bloody waves, stifled beneath the inferno of strife, leaving behind -for those who were lucky- stiff corpses their families could mourn over. For those slightly more unfortunate, their bodies had long been ground to dust beneath the raw might of enemy ninjutsu, and the only things to return from the battlefield were the news of their death and the sorrow of loss.

Perhaps those who were most unlucky were the ones to survive, the ones who needed to live with the scars gauged into their minds and hearts, the ones who needed to bear the weight of loss and hatred, the ones who’s insecurities had been ripped from the shade of their bosoms, and thrust into the limelight. Insecurities they hated, loathed, despised, and feared -and how could they not? After all, isn’t that why they failed to save their comrades? Isn’t that why they were forced to acknowledge their own weakness?

For a shinobi, the greatest of battles was not the one fought with Kunai and ninjutsu, but rather the battle raging within themselves. The word Shinobi...one who endures...but how much could one truly endure?
Could they endure their Wounds? Easy. Could they endure their Fatigue? Child’s play! What they truly needed to endure was the weight of their actions. The weight of each life they took... The weight of each mistake they made... The weight of each death they witnessed...

The weights accumulated on their fragile hearts and conscience, until one day, they cracked.

But there was no rest for the weary, they were shinobi. So with bloodstained hands, their hearts heavy with grief, or perhaps even guilt, their visions tinted red, they marched onward.

For those who’d risen to prominence during the war, their fame was built on mountains of corpse and seas of blood.

(OOC: Arg, I’ll need to write out Hinagiku’s experiences during the 3rd Ninja War, but It doesn’t fit here.)

It was the cruelest of ways to mature, but they had no choice. They could, however, make the transition slightly less horrific for those who came after them -and that’s exactly what they planned to do tonight. For those who would inherit their mantles, they first needed to understand the weight behind their positions. For the female duo, the Hyūga’s head Hinagiku intended to show her daughter Furījia just that, the weight of her position. Perhaps her actions would be seen as cruel, but the way she saw it, it was far better her baby eaglet fall from the nest while she was still around to shelter her.

...

Blissfully unaware of what loomed ahead, the young girl rushed ahead of her mother, cresting the hill, the simple beauty of the hamlet as it was caressed by the gentle rains was reflected in her eyes. She admired for a moment, her awe leaving her speechless -or almost.

“...it’s beautiful.”

The vibrant green of vegetation played background to the lush brown of wooden houses, the vivid colors on window drapes and curtains, and swirling black clouds puffed out by red-brick chimneys. Beneath the scattered sunlight they all shone with a simplistic brilliance -the world was beautiful.

Removing her mask from her face, the girl twirled around, giggling to herself as the raindrops tickled her face. She turned to face her mother, the innocence of youth practically etched onto her forehead and smiled. The older woman paused briefly, prickles of pain running across her heart, beneath her mask her expression clouded with guilt, but that swiftly faded to reveal a steely resolve. If she had to choose between protecting her daughter’s innocence and her life, she would choose the latter without hesitation.

The advent of the third ninja war had gotten gears turning in the heads of numerous shinobi across the continent. After all, 3 successive world wars had happened a mere 20 years apart from each other. The first two could’ve been sheer coincidence, but the third? It wasn’t long before the ideas of a fourth, fifth, or even sixth hung grimly over their heads.

Advancing rapidly, Hinagiku came to a stop next to her daughter, her internal turmoil tucked deep into the darkest recesses of her heart. Casting her attention down upon the girl by her side, she spoke coolly, “Do you...wish to be like me? To lead the Hyūga Clan in the future?”

“Of course!”

The reply came back promptly, without skipping a single beat, the voice filled with an ingrained confidence that seemed to disregard the uncertainty of the future. It was only to be expected. The girl had spent her whole life training to be just that, a successor to her mother. The next to inherit the title of Clan Head. She might not have understood exactly what it meant to be clan head, but she knew that it was expected of her, and she didn’t want to disappoint.

The din of voices was swiftly drowned out by the descending rain, until, a short while later, Hinagiku spoke again. “If you don’t want to...that’s okay as well...”

Furījia froze, looking up at her mother as if she’d spoken complete gibberish. What else would she be if not the Head of the Hyūga? She parted her lips to speak, but Hinagiku beat her to the punch, “Don’t answer now...I’ll ask again afterward.”

The girl remained silent, confusion etched between her brows. Her mother was being weird today. Why would she ever change her mind? Her answer today would obviously still be her answer tomorrow, and every day after that.

...


The air was thick with an ominous ambiguousness and the duo watched on together as the villagers below busied themselves in the rain. Furījia thought to ask what they were doing here, but the solemn air that surrounded her mother made her think twice.

Time passed by in relative silence until suddenly, Hinagiku spoke, her chakra rising with her emotions, a dense bloodlust erupted, her voice an abrupt clap of thunder, her stance appearing more valiant, like a general commanding the slaughter of thousands -which wasn’t far from the truth. The wind kicked up into a frenzy, the clouds rumbled with lightning and booms of thunder, the world growling with distress. But to Furījia, above it all, were the firm words that now rang in her ears, her mother’s voice a mix of calm apathy, motherly affection, feudal authority, and imposing might.

“Listen and watch well, child...I will show you, the weight of a Clan Leader’s words...”

The words threw the girl into bafflement, she didn’t understand what was happening, but obediently, she turned to the village, her eyes fading to a milky white as she activated her Byakugan. Moments after her vision had grown to encompass the entire village, her mother spoke, her voice sharp, like a blade passing judgment upon those below it.

“...Kill

It was a single word, one whose implications didn’t dawn on the girl until, in the corner of her vision, she spotted a figure approaching the village. Several more figures followed, each rushing out of the forest surrounding the village. On their foreheads, Konoha headbands, and their backs held the crest of the Hyūga.

Within the village, she could see the startled reactions of each and every civilian, their expressions of shock slowly turning to horror as the blood drained from their faces.

Time seemed to slow, the gears in the young Hyūga’s mind slowly turning. The first head flew, a cacophony of screeches erupted, she didn’t know which happened first, they seemed to all blend into one moment of utter terror, and suddenly, she understood. She wished desperately to turn away from the scene of carnage before her, but she was frozen solid.

The Hyūga descended upon the village without warning, wherever they went, death followed. Their might was overwhelmingly superior to the small hamlet’s, and the small town’s defenses crumbled like wet paper.

Furījia’s blood ran cold, freezing to a chilly crawl within her veins. The sounds of screams faded away into the distance as she spiraled into a state of shock. Only the scene before her registered. She was no stranger to killing, she’d been a genin for some time after all, but this...this was something else.

The falling rain ruthlessly stripped the heat from her body, it’s caress was no longer light and ticklish, but cold and unfeeling.

It started with her heart, her legs, her arms, her shoulders, and eventually her whole body, a loss of control, shaking, quivering, palpitating. Her legs gave way, and she slid to the ground, her stomach flipped, churned, roiled, and constricted. Hunching over, her earlier lunch rushed back through her throat and spilled onto the ground. She didn’t even notice.

She was aghast, but she could neither move to turn away nor voice her fright. Though, that wasn’t for lack of trying. No matter how strongly she willed it, her body would not obey, her struggles merely resulted in even more violent quivers, and her throat merely emitted hoarse whimpers.

“They’re a bandit village, Konoha received a request to exterminate them from the Feudal Lord himself. Don’t be fooled, each and every one of them has committed an untold number of atrocities to the surrounding villages and passing merchants.” Her voice taking on a more reassuring tone, Hinagiku spoke up.

“It’s easy to follow orders...but much harder to give them. It can be difficult for a soldier to come to terms with an enemy he’s killed. But a General is responsible for all the death on the battlefield, their orders lead to the deaths of their enemies, and their incompetence leads to the death of their own. The burden they must carry, the difficulty they are faced with is that much greater. As an heir to a noble clan, you must decide whether you wish to walk down this path...whether you can handle the weight of a General.” Her voice grew bitter as she spoke, alluding to events untold.

“Do you...still wish to become the Head of the Hyūga Clan?” She gazed down at her daughter, her voice soft. “I’ll understand if you don’t...”

Furījia was petrified, dots slowly connecting in her mind. Clan Heads, Kages, Leaders...this was the result of their orders. It might seem to be a lofty position filled with luxury, prestige, and pleasure, but only those who were thrust into those positions understood the hardship, the importance they must place on their actions and words- the weight of authority.

The world...was cruel.

As the village before her was dyed red with the light of flames and color of blood, the girl’s eyes fluttered and rolled back into her head as she fainted. Her body immediately lost all tension, and she fell to the side...right into the arms of her mother, who’d moved to catch her.

Lifting the limp girl from the ground, Hinagiku rose, conflict stirring in her eyes. Vision resting fondly on her daughter’s pale face, she muttered. “Perhaps...if you’d been born to a normal family...your life would’ve been easier...”

Without another word, she turned, walking back down the hill with steady steps, daughter in hand. She moved without much focus, merely drifting along the ground, her mind awash with concern and bitter remembrance
...

‘A leader should understand clearly the results of their actions...Someone who wields their authority with impunity will bring ruin to those around them.’

While it was certainly possible for a leader to give orders from the comfort of their home, never coming face to face with the consequences of their decisions, those people elicited a faint feeling of disgust and despise within the Hyūga head. To hide from the consequences of their own actions...they were unworthy of the authority within their grasp...

Hopefully, Furījia would come to grips with the reality in the peace of her own home rather than on the battlefield...as she once had.

...


Many weeks later, within the confines her own room, the door bolted shut, the Hyūga heiress candidate lay face down on her bed. She hadn’t left her room ever since she’d returned to Konoha. The only person to have visited was her mother, who came several times a day, bring food, companionship, and above all, comfort.

While she’d been terribly shaken by the events of many nights past, solitude and affection had done much to soothe her unease. But even then, the implications of what she’d been shown weighed on her limbs like iron shackles. The weight of the mantle her mother wore was crushing, and it had crushed much of the innocent naivety she still had. Did she truly want to be the Clan Head of the Hyūga Clan? This wasn’t the first time her mother had taken her out to ‘teach her’ what it meant to be a Clan leader, but this time was, by far, the most weighty.

Previous outings had shown her the tasks and responsibilities the Clan leader carried out, the multitude of good a clan leader could do. She vividly remembered the cheer and excitement that abounded within the clan during the spring festival. The clan had opened its gates to the public and as people streamed in and out of the compound, enjoying the festivities hosted by the Clan, the village seemed to be abuzz with joy and festive delight. The Festival had been orchestrated, of course, by her mother.

But...how could one spread joy in one breath, and then, carnage in another? Which was really the role of the Clan Head? If she’d been asked before, then she would’ve answered ‘joy’ without hesitation. But now...she was unsure. Seeds of doubt had been sown into her heart.

Having been trained her whole life to occupy the role of Clan leader, Furījia now found herself lost. Who was the clan leader..? Who did she want to be..? Could she even do it..?

She neither knew who she was, nor who she wanted to be.

...

Months passed, and swirling within the midst of her own identity crisis, the girl found her once naive and reckless cheer had been drained from her being. She thought she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her mother, but she was no longer certain. She could still feel the swelling confidence and resolve the woman emanated when she moved, but could she ever become like that?

Egged on by unseen pressures, the girl pushed herself. However, no matter how much she seemed to practice, no matter how perfect she was during training, that creeping uncertainty would always seize her body when it counted, whispering in her ear her inability to match up to the expectations of her clan, and her mother.

===========================================================================
 
Last edited:
After nearly an hour of Tomiko and Mori conversing, and Katsuo remaining completely silent, Guren stopped abruptly and without warning, causing Katsuo to veer his body around her to keep from colliding with the older shinobi.

"Lady Guren, what seems to be the problem?" The young water-nin asked unevenly, unsure why they would stop at such a time sensitive moment.

"This is gonna take forever on foot, we've got the most ground to cover..." Murmured the Jonin, who appeared to be in deep contemplation for several moments. The silence was finally broken when Guren stepped away from the group to gain some distance whilst casting a fast set of complex hand signs.

"Lady Guren, what're you doing?" The boy questioned his leader once more, now very curious about the actions she seemed to be taking.

"Something....new....Crystal Style! Shattered Jade Dragon!" She shouted, causing thousands of petal-like shards of crystal to form from thin air, only for said crystals to coil around one another, slowly taking the shape of a small dragon, one with an incredibly wide wing span, and a short nimble body.
"Well...hop on! No time to waste!" The crystal user shouted to her squad, commanding them onto the crystal beast without much explanation.

"This is....this is incredible! What a powerful jutsu, almost like my Mom's." Katsuo spoke in aw, using the dragons wing as a ramp to climb onto the large flat area between its shoulder blades.

"Almost? Well...you got one tough Mama kid, cause that took some effort." Guren replied a bit lightheartedly, a spark of warmth igniting in her due to this being the most verbal the young man had been the entire trip.
 
"THAT IS AMAZING!"​

Tomiko had a bit less talent at self control when it came to containing her emotion over the new jutsu that Guren had displayed as she gazed in wonder of the Jade Dragon the Jonin produced. So much amazement in fact, that she had been cut off from responding to Mori's points as her entire focus shifted to the dragon as she scanned each detail of it from head to tail. Seemed her famed reputation had not been a case of exaggerated tall tales if she could produce something like this so casually.

However, she had not been daydreaming enough to miss the call to get on, as she eagerly jumped onto the back of the dragon as she overheard the comment made by Katsuo in regards to his mother which had caught her interest. Was Katsuo's mother someone who could produce a jutsu of a similar caliber? If so....then Katsuo's lineage had to be something more noteworthy than she let on, which given that Katsuo was a man with multiple headbands and with desires for unified peace, only had made him more curious an individual.

More importantly, it appeared that Guren and him had began to somewhat speak with a bit of a friendly exchange. It was small, but a good first step and a show that maybe Guren would not be totally cold to them the entire time. It was baby steps, but it was steps in the right direction all the same.

"Yeah, your mother sounds like a total badass~!" Tomiko added on as she decided to insert herself into the conversation.

-----------
"As a matter of fact, yes." Darui said, as he overheard Taji's question which concerned whether he managed to get a boat or not as he appeared before the group with his natural expression.

A bored one, but natural all the same.

"Got a boat that should be enough for all of us to fit on. I presume you managed to find a lead?" Darui asked as Kenji had given a quick nod, which was enough for Darui to nod as he tilted his head over to a moderately sized boat on the dock that Aisha presumed had been for them to use. Darui began to walk over to that boat in the dock and motioned for the trio and two dogs to follow him.

"We'll discuss details when we set sail. I want us to get going, long ride to where the Jinchuriki may have fled to." Darui explained, as Kenji and Aisha gave a nod as both began to walk to the boat, though Aisha paused as she gave an encouraging smile to Taji.

"Hey, next time you encounter a perv. Just bring it to my attention, I'll set things straight I promise you that." Aisha said with a toothy grin before she followed Kenji to the boat with Darui as Luna & Sky followed suit.

----------
Sakura listened to Furijia's story, as her own eyes widened in horror as Furijia recounted those events. Sakura had no love lost for bandits, it was without question they had what was coming to them, but...but to expose someone so young to something comparable to genocide seemed beyond cruel and needlessly extreme to prove a point.

Kakashi himself had overheard Furijia's story, though refrained from making a comment. All he knew of the details was that the bandits needed to be dealt with the Hinagiku volunteered to do so. It was far from an easy decision his sensei had to make, but one he went through for the protection of Konoha. Though Kakashi internally questioned using such an extreme event for that purpose as far as the young Furijia had been concerned. Something he had not had direct knowledge of, but refrained from making a comment to Hinagiku about it.

Yet.

"I'm....I'm so sorry. I-I can't imagine seeing something like that, especially at that age. I can see what you are talking about...." Sakura said, in reference to Furijia's concern that she lacked that confidence Sakura had claimed she had. Sakura bit her lip, unsure of what else she could have said but decided to try and offer encouragement.

"But, but...I do not think my comment was wrong either. You went through all of that, and yet here you are. Standing tall, and even willing to go on a volunteer mission of this scale. You have shown that this incident didn't, completely break you. And, and in my view there is an inner strength in there; it may not be obvious, and it might be buried deep over these troubles that are not easy to work through, but it does exist. I am sure of that much." Sakura said, as she tried to encourage Furijia and point out that there had been some strength to have some capacity to function after being exposed to such traumatic experiences.

"Know that, at any point, I am here to help you. We are all here to help each other, and if you ever want to talk to me about anything. I am all ears." Sakura said, as she gave a small but genuine smile to Furijia as she wanted to let her know she was there for her if she needed her for anything.
 

sSoul

Previously Swirled
Taiyo
Overhearing the conversation, the Leaf-nin felt compelled to come closer to get a better hearing of Furījia's story. To his surprise, Taiyo's ears were met with information of Hinagiku gave an order which resulted in the slaughter of a clan of bandits to teach Furījia the lesson of giving orders and the difficultly of such.

"A clan of bandits, I remember those guys. I'm glad those guys died, and Mrs. Hinagiku has my respect for doing so. I can imagine the difficulty of causing death to a mass of individuals," Taiyo commented on her story, briefly reminiscing on his own, or rather, a prologue to the journey that eventually lead here, "Oh, sorry for intruding on your conversation, its just that I've got a personal connection with that particular clan, maybe I should tell you," The Leaf-nin inhaled sharply before telling his story.

The Akugami household was quiet, due to it being 8:00 in the morning. A younger Taiyo, who was now 6 years old raced to his parent's bedroom. Kasei Akugami, the father of the soon-to-be Leaf-nin woke up groggily, careful not to disturb Kinrenai, his wife.

"What..Taiyo? What are you doing up you little rascal?" Kasei ruffled his son's hair playfully, a warm smile on his face

"I want to go to work with you!" Taiyo told his dad, his childish eyes gleamed brightly.

"Alright, just make sure you can get ready in 1 hour," To this the boy made a noise of excitement and began to prepare himself.

"Have you told that boy that he'll be a big brother in nine months?" Kinrenai soon woke up afterward, although the commotion was part of it.

"Yep, he's been trying to come up with names nonstop," Her husband replied, chuckling due to his son's immense energy. It was good start to a good day in his eyes, and he made sure it stayed that way for his son, regardless of what happened on the field. Kasei went back to sleep with a grin on his face as he mentally braced himself for the day to come
~~~~~~~~~~1 hour later~~~~~~~~~~
By the time the older Leaf-nin was ready, Taiyo was already presentable and waiting for his father patiently.

"Ready to go, Firecracker?" Kasei motioned his son to him, in the position for a piggyback ride.

"You bet!" The 6 year-old got on his father's back as they soon headed out. Kohanagakure was recently recovering from the 3rd world war, the biggest war ever since the 2nd one, which happened only 20 years prior. On the surface, everything seemed fine, but the higher-ups of Kohana seemed to be on high alert, and for good reason. Approaching the mission hall, Kasei dropped off Taiyo before he went inside to be briefed on his next mission.
~~~~~~~~~30 minutes later~~~~~~~~ Taiyo began poking around in the dirt to entertain himself, although he did bother to wave to any kids he knew who passed by. He turned to see his father exit the door, although to him, it was like the Sage of Six Paths himself came to save him from boredom.

"Hey dad, what exciting job did you get this time?" Leaping up from his spot on the ground, Taiyo began to bounce up and down excitedly as if he devoured a pound of sugar for breakfast.

"Oh, it's just a job to deal with some low-lives from that bandit clan. Apparently they managed to steal a fraction of the Uchiha's fortune, they got away with an even smaller fraction of what they initally stole," Kasei relayed the information he got from his mission briefing to his anxious son.

"Cool, can I come with you?"

"As much as I want to, I gotta refuse, since if they wouldn't let a trained genin on this mission, why would they let me take you?

"Aw..."

"Sorry Firecracker, maybe next time," The Jonin then headed off to deal with the mission he was tasked with as Taiyo returned home to his mother.
~~~~~~~~~5 hours later~~~~~~~~~
"Hmm, what about Nepū, or Chīkyū or maybe Susei?" Taiyo and Kinrenai were currently discussing names for the newest addition to the family before the door opened.

"Akugami residence, I have some bad news," A Leaf Jonin called to them, "Kasei Akugami has sadly passed,"
"What...no...no, not my Kasei, your joking aren't you?" Kinrenai still beamed with a positive smile, although Taiyo didn't seem to reflect that expression.

"Mom, I don't think he's joking..." the now scared 5 year old slowly choked out as the man who delivered the message cleared his throat.

"Listen to your son, Kinrenai; Kasei died in a battle to reclaim the fraction of fortune that was stolen," Taiyo immediately knew what he was talking about, which only made things worse.

"Oh...I see...thank you sir," The now single mother said sadly as the Jonin awkwardly took his leave. A single tear began to shed down her face before turning to Taiyo.

"Taiyo...I think it's your bedtime now," The cheer in her voice was now breaking, understandably so as her spouse had recently died and she was coming to terms with that.

"Okay..." The 6 year old then went to his bed, tucked himself in, and went to sleep. Halfway through the night he heard the loud wailing of his mother coming from his bedroom, it was the worst sound he had ever heard in his life, it made him want to curl up and cry even more than he already was.

Those jerks made momma cry, I'm going to avenge her and dad tomorrow. Don't worry mom, you won't have to cry much longer.
~~~~~~~~~~~1 day later~~~~~~~~~~
Taiyo managed to wake up with dry eyes, as he had been crying all night, he went to see his mother in her room, except she wasn't there. He looked everywhere in their small house but couldn't find her anywhere. In fact, he found almost nothing except for a single note.
"To whom it may concern,
Your mother and everything that belongs to her has been stolen, this is what your father gets for attempting to take back what we earned. Now come to us so we can finish the job,"

So, these guys want to fight now? I'll finish what they started!
And just like that Taiyo was off, unaware that an unknown figure was watching him.
~~~~~~~~~~3 hours later~~~~~~~~~
The six year old had finally found the lair of three bandits and behind them were his mother, the most prized possessions of the Akugami household, and the lost portion of the Uchiha fortune.

"Wow, I can believe the kid actually came! It's like there sending a paper tiger to face a tsunami!" The leader of the three mocked as his subourdinates laughed in response.

"Taiyo!" Kinrenai screamed out to her son, tied down to a chair, "You shouldn't have come here, your should have just stayed home, let them do whatever they wanted to me, and live a normal life," Her complaints however, fell on deaf ears.

"These guys started it, so Im gonna finish it!" The little boy said with a firey determination that would mirror that of him in his later life.

"Heh, so be it," the three bandits cracked their knuckles and seized young Taiyo. The boy took a defensive stance and braced himself. It went as well as you'd expect. In mere moments Taiyo was covered in bruises and blood from the oppressive onslaught. Kinrenai couldn't bear to watch her son getting abused like that.

"Hah, shows you, you brat! Never pokethe bear unless you came with a rifle!" The leader of the bandits then pressed his foot against Taiyo's head, as he was now on the ground. The little boy looked at his mother one more time before closing his eyes.

Well, this is it, I'm going to die. Im sorry mom, I just wanted you to be happy. I guess I couldn't deliver huh...

However, instead of feeling the crushing weight of a foot, Taiyo's head felt free, and until he turned his head to the left, he didn't know why.

"Look pansies, I know that stealing and child abuse makes you feel like men, but you gotta stop, your upsetting the lady," The unknown figure who was watching Taiyo from the point he left to even when he was "fighting" the bandits.

"So, you think your hot shit huh? We'll show you!" The leader then sent his minions to take care of this new arrival.

"Rookie mistake, never send the minions," The cloaked individual then dodged the joint attack and knocked them both out with a powerful kick. The main bandit was astouned, but regardless rushed into battle. This time, the cloaked figure played with his food a little longer, the bandit taking out a kunai and attempting to stab him while the cloaked figure simply dodged. Taiyo was amazed at the figure, who seemed to be a gift from heaven itself, and how effortlessly he killed the bandits.

"They must have got the jump on him, anyways, let's get you home kid," The figure then set Kinrenai free from the chair as he escorted the two home, later disappearing.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to make it about me, I just started something and thought I should finish it," The Leaf-nin awkwardly shuffled away from the conversation, his head hung low.

Nice going there, buddy boy.

Oh shut up...
 
Last edited:
Mori whistled as he watched Guren create a crystal dragon, although said whistle was unable to be heard as Tomiko shouted in amazement. "Now that is travelling in style. Why walk when you can fly?" He said as he looked at the dragon in detail, if anything was going to prove that Guren's reputation was earned this was it. Having this much control over a kekkei genkai that making such a jutsu doesn't tire the creator is an incredible feat. "Crystal Release, what is it made from? Earth Style probably, but what is the other nature?" He noted as he followed the others onto the back of the dragon.

"Your mother? She is capable of creating a jutsu similar to this? Must be one powerful parent you have." Mori asked Katsuo, curious about the strength of his mother and by extension his own. Maybe he should stay on his good side, an ally with a powerful bloodline and a goal to unite the Big Five could be very useful in the future, near or far. "What rank does she have? I assume that it is jonin since this jutsu is quite the piece of work, if I'd try it I'd die on the spot due to chakra exhaustion and that is something we should avoid." He said with a chuckle. "I might train with my parents if they are home, if not I'll try to find someone else. Lady Guren, I think we are ready to fly."He said as he prepared himself for the dragon to lift off.

------------------------

Taji nodded as Aisha said that she would help her if she encountered another pervert. "I will keep it in mind, even drunk people would think twice to assault someone who is friends with the owner of two wolves. And if it all goes wrong, I can use some Genjutsu or just attack them. Although I assume that you are better at that than me." She said with a badly surpressed giggle and entered the boat. "Darui sensei, I think we are ready to go."
 
Furijia

After remaining solemnly silent, the youngest Hyuga finally openned her mouth,"...thank you." She thought briefly, puzzled at how Sakura labled the scene tramatic -which it certainly was-, while Taiyo labled it respectable. It was odd, an conundrum, how could something be both good and bad simultaneously? Who was wrong? Who was right?

She didn't know.

However, what she did realize was, there were two sides to every coin, and Taiyo had chosen to see the good in her past. For the first time, her eyes settled onto Taiyo, her pupils observing with a calm curiosity. Perhaps...he wasn't so bad. Still a pervert, but not irredeemable.

Baiyan

'Eh? Tch', certainly wasn't yes, but at the same time it would hardly be considered a no. Rather, as far as she could tell, the question had been avoided in its entirely. She pondered over that for a moment, a smile of satisfaction eventually settling in. Her finger twirling idly around a frayed lock of hair, and she responded to Reaver with another question, shifting closer as she spoke. "I don't think I'm that close...am I?"


 
Last edited:
Once all four shinobi climbed onto the dragon's back, Guren let out a faint, low whistle, causing the crystal beast to burst forth with life, propelling itself in the air with one huge wave of its wings.
Katsuo jolted, grabbing at the smooth crystal by instinct, feeling his bodyweight heave towards the earth as the gang was rocketed to cloud level. With the rush of excitement and potential chance of falling to his death, Katsuo was barely able to hear Tomiko and Mori's comments.

"Your mother? She is capable of creating a jutsu similar to this? Must be one powerful parent you have."

"Yeah...she quite the amazing women, taught me almost everything I know." He replied with a warm smile, thinking back to the full family he finally had a chance to return home to.
"Was offered a position among the anbu black ops just after becoming Jonin, which she respectively turned down. Said she preferred for her enemies to know when she's coming. Scary women...scary, yet rather amazing." He added quietly, peering over the edge of the behemoth to see the lush shinobi world cascading by beneath them.
"Think that's impressive? They should see Dad...." The young man muttered to himself under his breath, knowing the others would get a kick out of his dad's jutsu.

"Well, at this rate we won't hit our target location for over an hour, so get comfortable. Its better than walking." Lady Guren added, her brash tone returning as she stood on the dragon's head, overlooking the flight path in front of her.
 

Shen: King of Digimon

Previously Shen: King of the Mist
Reaver’s eyebrows furrowed, watching as Baiyan spoke her words. This little...thing is making a mockery of me! Setting in the den of a lion and openly trying to get on it’s nerves with the looting of a thousand hairs! I wont have it!

“If you don’t remove your blind ass from my bedside, I will remove said ass from the rest of your body!” Reaver hissed.

He didn’t like when people didn’t listen to him, and he hated it further when they made a game of it. Cocky little punks never settled way with him. Those that made fun of their enemy and not taking them seriously were dishonorable scumbags in his book.



........


“HehEhEhEhEhEhE...........”

The sound of thistles and bells amongst other sounds rattled across an unknown path. A figure wrapped in the shadow cast by the trees remained hidden, only their uneasy smile being seen. A most grandios performance lay ahead, and the performers and actors have yet to arrive to the stage. It was almost show time!

“The world is a stage that must be acted on, perhaps a captive audience would be required...? hEhEhEhE.....!”
 

SageNeb

Previously 5DigitNeb
Setchi gazed at Azumi intensely, trying to tell whether or not she was lying. She noticed her headband was from of the other villages not in the Big 5.

Good thing she's not from Konoha or I might've just thrown this spear right then and there... but she is from Amegakure so I know she wasn't lying about the home being stolen thing. Hmm

Setchi was thinking for a good minute and a half and finally put down her spear.

"Fine, if your friends really need help that badly... but I'll be watching you the whole time. I can even supply basic healing utilities... just go to wherever they're at and I'll give you some right now."
 
Azumi watched, only slightly on edge, as Setchi scanned her body head to toe. Partially she seemed to rest her eyes on her headband, as Azumi hoped that Amegakure's neutral status with Takigakure would come to her benefit here.

And thankfully it appeared that Kami had given her this blessing. As Setchi relaxed a bit and set her spear down, before she offered Azumi the chance to work on aid to Reaver & Baiyan. Even further, she'd offer some basic healing utilities in exchange that she'd overview the operation. Likely in the event that Azumi had some hidden agenda, which had been more than fair as she fully relaxed and gave a nod to Setchi.

"Thank you for that. The two are upstairs and you may follow me up whenever you see fit. If you truly are offering your utilities, I am grateful." Azumi said, as she figured showing respect to Setchi had been the best way to go about this situation. Besides, she was of a nation she aimed to make a friend rather than an enemy.

Azumi walked upstairs to go check on Reaver & Baiyan, as she opened the door to see the two had woken up. Injured still, but they seemed to be chatting....or rather arguing much to Azumi's annoyance.

"I believe we've had enough fighting for today." Azumi said with a stern tone to the two, Reaver especially.

-----------
"Man, she sounds incredible." Tomiko said in amazement, as she heard Katsuo talk about his mother which painted the picture in her head of a famed kunoichi of legendary skill. I mean how many people could be good enough to willingly turn down the position of ANBU? No wonder Katsuo had been so powerful if he had someone like that to show him the way of the ninja, and that didn't even concern this father whose Katsuo's mumbles hid from Tomiko's ears.

Though speaking of parents, Tomiko reached into her bag and pulled out three small bread sticks as she passed them out for Mori, Katsuo and Guren herself. Careful to manage her step while she scaled the Jade Dragon.

"Here, my folks made these and more before I left. Worked the bakery extra hard to get us meals to last the trip." Tomiko said with a smile as she offered her treats to the group. While she also inadvertently revealed a bit about herself to the group in that her parents were bakers.

-----------
As Pakura moved with both Yasu and Madoka, a thought had entered her head. If they traveled by foot then that'd only mean they'd be more likely to arrive to the destination of the Jinchuriki last. Given it had been traced to the islands between the Land of Water & Land of Fire and Sunagakure had been unfortunately too far away that other nations were bound to get a jump on them.

So Pakura stopped, and made a signal for both Madoka & Yasu to do the same. Pakura took a moment to bite her thumb as she generated several hand signs in a flash.

"Summoning Jutsu!"
Out of the smoke emerged what appeared to be a pack of coyotes. Though these had not been usual coyotes, they seemed larger than the standered ones, almost as big as wolves. One or two bigger, and more importantly big enough to ride on. Pakura got on what was presumed the pack leader given its larger size over the others as she glanced over at Madoka & Yasu.

"These babies will triple our travel rate, and should compensate for us starting farther away than other suitors. Don't worry, they are trained well. Just be gentle when you get on their backs and hold on tight." Pakura advised, as Madoka gave a nod before she carefully moved on the back of one of the coyotes.

----------
"Well then, we're off." Darui said with a nod as he moved the boat out of the dock and began to set sail for where they were to go, which Kenji would explain as he provided the information of the Jinchuriki's last known whereabouts given the information from the old fisherman.

Aisha would gaze into the open sea. Her eyes wide as they can be as clearly the site was new for the forest dweller formally of the Land of Fire. Sky & Luna hung on the edge of the boat as they seemed to enjoy the view as well.
 
Baiyan

"Ah...right, the crass one..."

Blinking slowly, Baiyan turned her attention away from Reaver, her body subtly positioned in a guarded stance. Her senses turned towards the door, preempting Azumi's arrival. A non-committal smile spread across her lips as Azumi entered, speaking her own mind. Unnoticeably, Baiyan's brow pricked at Azumi's tone she merely mumbled to herself, "and the Lynchpin..."

"While I'd like to get down to business immediately, something even more important must be addressed...did you pick up my sword?"

Yasu

Eyes sparkling with interest, Yasu gave a firm nod of affirmation. Agilely he flipped forward, then floated gently onto the Cayote's back. Tracing his palms through its fur, he allowed the canine creature to take its place behind the pack leader and awaited Pakura to lead them off.

 
Mori accepted the breadstick from Tomiko before shivering and reaching into his pocket, grabbing his scarf. "Good thing I packed this thing." He mumbled as he put the breadstick in the corner of his mouth so that he could use both hands to put on his scarf, the Utamara clan logo visible for anyone who looked at him. "Scary parents huh? I have my fair share of experience with them, and let's just say that they made a lasting impression on me." He said with a chuckle as he took a bite of the breadstick. "Okay, this is some great stuff. Remind me to visit them when we get home, Tomiko."

"Your mom rejected ANBU because she wanted to let her enemies know she was coming? Sounds familiar." He glanced at Tomiko and didn't find it too hard to imagine her attack her enemies far from stealthily, she was already doing that anyway. "Guess that is the difference between your mother and mine. Mine takes delight in the fear of her enemies as they go missing and only their heads with slit throats are found, sticking out of the ground like some kind of sick crop. According to her, there is nothing that can compare to the fear in their eyes as they discover that they are found and targeted. That's how she got her moniker and she didn't even get it from her side, appearantely some targets made it up when she was near." Mori could not surpress a grin from crawling on his face. "Yes, Heartless Kasumi is a well known and feared name among the ranks of bandits and similar scum."

"While I'm at it, might as well tell you two about my dad. That way you have a way to check if I am truly me and not a transformed person." He noted with a wink. "My father is a Third Great Ninja War veteran and it shows in his skills. Preferring to win without shedding blood since he shed enough according by his own words, he is notorious for letting himself be seen and be chased as he disappears, giving the rest of his squad a chance to surround them and force them to surrender. That doesn't mean he isn't capable of fighting, he is quite skilled in it. Give him any weapon and he can use it to reach his goal, not to mention he only uses jutsu when forced to or when he can see the white in the eyes of those who oppose him. Try and surround him and you end up with a bunch of bloody and pierced corpses along with a jonin who is far from pleased."

"He seems fearless and even nonchalant with picking missions, always those with high risk without caring for his own safety, but he has one big fear. He absolutely despises and fears the Sharingan after multiple encounters with 'Wicked Eye' Fugaku. That blasted blood red eye that always is accompanied by fire, it is the stuff of nightmares." Mori shivered involuntarily. "Despite all that, he remains a devoted parent whenever he's home. Wanting the best for his son and doing his best to let him grow up in peace. His son wasn't too keen on a nice childhood though and found it to be boring, overconfident in his Academy skills and skipping class more than once. When he found out, he made sure that his son stayed in line." He grinned as he layed down on the dragon. "That was my story, anyone else?"

------------------------------

Taji started to untense a bit as she listened to Kenji explain the info that he got from the old fisherman. So far so good, they got a way of transport, a lead on the Jinchuriki and no one has died yet. She streched her arms and basked in the sun, keeping an eye on Aisha and her wolves. "Don't lean too far overboard, you might fall in and I'm not sure if we can stop the boat in time for you to enter." She warned the Inuzuka, not looking forward to jumping into the water to fetch Aisha or her wolves.

"Kenji was it right? How long do you think that it will take to get to the location of the Jinchuriki? We have knowledge of the location of them but other groups are coming too and if we can avoid a conflict on the way there and back, that would be great. We can't use an attack when we're struggling with a stray Jinchuriki who of course won't just come with us without a fight." Taji declared as she waited for a response from Kenji or anyone who could answer her question really, although she was in no hurry to know. It wasn't gonna speed up the travelling so she might as well get comfortable and bask in the sun, even though she didn't need a tan at all.
 
Last edited:
Hinagiku

Unperturbed by the sudden talkativeness of the genin, Hina waited for a few minutes, until the hushed retellings of their past gave way to the sounds to nature. Then she began giving the mission briefing, "Our task on this outing is to capture or kill the Jinchuriki of the 8-tails. Since some of you might not be aware, I'll provide information on both the Tailed beast and its Jinchuriki, starting with the latter."

Clearing her throat, she pulled a small book from her sleeve, and opened it, "This Bingo Book is only handed out to Jonin and above, so I don't expect you to have one. However, it's a listing of information compiled by the Kage, it includes famous shinobi from other villages, missing ninja, and targets for elimination. The various Jinchuriki trained by their nations naturally also have entries in this book."

Flipping through the pages she turned to the section about Kumogakure, "The 8 tails Jinchuriki, somewhere in her early twenties. She's suspected to be proficient in, of course, lightning release. That's all the relevant info we're absolutely certain of, though I wouldn't be surprised if she had another nature release or two beneath her belt. On the other hand, you have the 8 Tailed Beast itself. Not much is known about it, however, under no circumstances should you treat it like a mindless beast. The Tailed Beasts are most definitely sentient beings possessing intellect, Lady Kushina herself was a Jinchuriki, so we're aware of at least that much. Jinchuriki have immense chakra reserves, so you must never try to outlast them in a battle of endurance. Through the power of their tailed beasts, Jinchuriki are able to don chakra cloaks with varying levels of power that increases with the number of tails displayed."

"Lord Jiraiya is more versed with this topic than I am...so I won't say much more." Shaking her head in dismissal, she continued, "It's expected that we'll be engaging Shinobi from the other Great Nations, but we don't know who will be dispatched, and it would be foolish to brief you on every notable ninja within enemy ranks. However, it's incredibly likely that Kumogakure will deploy their Valkyries. As for Kumo's valkyries...you're forbidden from engaging them. Should you encounter them, your first priority should be to flee. Their signature jutsu is the lightning release -Limelight, a contender for the strongest lightning jutsu in existence. We're quite familiar with this particular jutsu because it's also used by the 12 Ninja Guardians of the Daimyo. It requires 4 users and takes a while to charge, but its destructive power is immense, vaporizing everything between the boundaries of the 4 users."

Pausing briefly, she angled her head so she was looking over her shoulder at the genin behind her, "I should make this clear, but you genin aren't actually expected to 'capture' the Jinchuriki. Your main role will be to provide assistance. Don't be reckless. Fight together in teams of no less than 2."

She wouldn't have them foolishly believing the Jinchuriki was someone they'd be capable of tangling with. "The Jinchuriki was last seen heading South East, towards the land of water."

Personally, Hinagiku was suspicious of that information. The Jinchuriki should've known better than to deliver herself to the Mist village. Even if she wanted to hide in a body of water, the ocean to the North West would've been a far better option as it was positioned between Kumo and Iwa, neither of which were known for their water release users. Nevertheless, it was what it was.

"Team Kakashi will be responsible for engaging the Jinchuriki, while my own Team will be responsible for engaging foreign shinobi. Your roles are not set in stone, no plan survives contact with the enemy, be flexible and change roles depending on the situation of the battlefield. That will be all, and it should answer your questions Uchiha. Darling, come here."

As soon as she'd finished, she immediately shifted to her next priority addressing her 'darling'. Needless to say, both Sagisō and Furījia responded to this address, but after a quick gloss of their mother's posture and body language, they seemed to have simultaneously come to the conclusion the darling in question was Furījia.

As her daughter approached, Hinagiku pulled a small scroll from her sleeves. The scroll was completely black, but golden engraving framed it with the images of dancing phoenixes. "This is a summoning scroll, it allows you to sign a contract with the summoned animal it belongs to. In the case of this scroll, the creature is a Filolial. It's about time you got your own summons, and a Filolial will be very suitable for you. You'll need to sign this contract in your blood, and attempt a summoning, I'll walk you through it."

In truth, there was another reason why she'd chosen the Filolial contract for Furījia -the girl was fated to them. It wasn't a very well-known fact, but if one performed the summoning jutsu without forming a contract there was a chance they would be reverse summoned to the home-grounds of the creature they were most fated with -this was something she'd learned from Lord Jiraiya. Another little-known fact was that it was possible to summon the animal of another person as long as you had access to their blood, and provided the chakra. Combining these two traits she'd long since made enough attempts at the technique to determine which animal was most suited to Furījia. That was how she managed to get the Filolial contract scroll in the first place.

It only took a short while before Furījia had finished signing the scroll and was ready to attempt her first summoning.

Furījia

Fidgeting giddily, the girl stared down at the blood smeared on her fingertips, left behind by her earlier sealing of the scroll. Slowly, the marking of seal began forming on her arm, dark engravings that dotted their skin until they made a small, but vivid, depiction of an elongated raptor. It looked similar to an Ostrich that had been cloaked in a feathered jacket, though that was a vague description at best. As the seal finished forming something seemed to...click.

The girl wasn't quite sure what had happened, but she knew it felt right. With the completion of the summoning seal, Furījia excitement seemed to boil over. She could instinctively tell that she could either smear her blood across the seal on her arm or smear blood from that arm across a surface to initiate her summoning. Her fingers were already in motion, repeating the seals she'd been shown, and wiping the blood from her fingers, she traced a bloody line across her forearm. She'd poured a sizeable chunk of chakra into the seal, wanting to make a good first impression on whatever creature showed up -and she didn't have to wait long for that.

In an explosion of smoke, she was lifted off the ground as something took its place below her. When the smoke cleared, Furījia straddled a large bird, it's feathers -luxurious ones at that- a deep blue, the edges of each feather tinged with a thundercloud grey. Elongated plumage feathers stretched from its crown, appearing to wrap around its long neck like a scarf. Similar feathers created a fan of tail feathers and tipped wings, which the creature proudly displayed. Below its body was a strong set of avian legs, ending in hook-like claws.

If the expression on her face didn't express enough of her excitement, then the squealing most certainly would've. Noticeable, the newly summoned Filolial was also quite excited, which it promptly displayed by ruffling its feathers and releasing a sharp caw. The birds feathers gleamed, lightning natured chakra crackling off its body. As it shook its feathers they seemed to form sparks between themselves, and as the feathers clashed arcs of lightning jumped between them with subdued crackles, raining a showing of electrical sparks down around it. It's feet kicked at the ground, and then it was gone, racing across the land, it's summoner clinging dearly to its neck, her girlish squeals replaced by panicked screams. A dark blue bolt of thunder shooting off into the horizon.

"Oh Dear..?" Brows furrowing as she watched, the instigator of this whole incident, Hinagiku, commented with a tinge of concern. New summons did sometimes behave rather...excitably...but the Filolial didn't seem to mean any harm to her daughter. However, just to be safe she followed, kickstarting into a sprint as she pursued the offending bird. She accelerated to her max speed, unaugmented, her dress fluttering behind her. Filolials were creatures that loved to run, and they naturally excelled at it. This particular one seemed to be on steroids, charging forward like a warhorse, as if Furījia's weight didn't even register.

Sagisō

Wide-eyed, the Nadeshiko kunoichi stared blankly as the newly summoned Filolial kidnapped her little sister. Her shock stalled her reaction, and only when the bird had begun to disappear over the horizon, her mother hot in pursuit, had she finally reacted. Much less composed that Hinagiku had been, Sagisō shrieked, startlement and frustration apparent in her voice, "Furījia!!!"

Joining the chase, she took off, kicking up the wind as she vanished from her position. Her body seemed to move...oddly. At first, it would appear as if she was blinking in and out of existence, multiple meters placed between herself and her previous position. In truth, this was one the jutsu she'd been practicing over the short break. It was a toned-down, more sustainable version of her Flickering wind shadow. While it didn't have the same instantaneous acceleration -and harmful drawbacks-, it allowed for a more sustainable speed-boost. She'd received some pointers from her mother and had thus created this jutsu -though she'd only partially mastered it- and it provided her the speed she needed to match the pace of her mother and the surprisingly speedy bird.
 
Last edited:
Once Pakura saw that both Yasu and Madoka had gotten onto their coyotes she gave a nod as she yelled out the command and soon enough the trio the rode on charged forward at rather impressive speeds.

This would help deal with the greater distance they'd travel compared to other search teams, but they still had a ways to good. More than enough time to share information on what Suna spies managed to obtain.

"According to our sources. The 8 tails Jinchuriki, somewhere in a woman; somewhere in her early twenties. She's believed to be skilled in lightning release, being a Kumo-nin an educated guess to say the least. She had been seen fleeing Kumo's border, as her aim seems to have been traveling to the land between the Land of Water and Land of Fire. Her intent is anyone's guess, though suspected refuge in one of those nations if I had to guess. That's all the information about her reported to us by spies, anything else is a hypothetical." Pakura explained as she glanced back at both Madoka and Yasu while she gave out this information.

"As far as what else to be mindful of, well, it is logical to presume that as a Jinchuriki the host will be able to tap into the beast's power; if our experience with our former One Tailed Beast when it had been in Suna's care showed, and that power can be devastating. So it is mindful to approach with caution, and avoid direct engagement unless there is no alternative. After all, it will be on my shoulders to obtain the host with you two as acting as support." Pakura said as her expression gave way to a sly smile.

"Course, all good plans end up going to waste in the heat of battle. And it'd be naive to assume it will all go according to plan. So be ready for anything and do not feel the need to stick to the no direct combat rule if your lives are at stake."

-----------
Kenji listened as Taji bombared him with question after question; which had been a telltale sign to him that she had been a bit anxious about all of this. Not that Kenji could fault her, but he needed to try and address each question one at a time.

How long do you think that it will take to get to the location of the Jinchuriki?

"Based on the coordinates, which pegged the Jinchuriki fleeing by a small boat in a south western direction, Darui seems to believe it will take anywhere between two to four days. Depending on how much current we encounter along the way." Kenji explained, as the simplest question had been dealth with.

We have knowledge of the location of them but other groups are coming too and if we can avoid a conflict on the way there and back, that would be great.

"Indeed, it would be amazing. Depends on how soon we land and how long it takes us to find the Jinchuriki. Though it is doubtful to assume it will go so swimmingly without any complications." Kenji replied to her.

We can't use an attack when we're struggling with a stray Jinchuriki who of course won't just come with us without a fight.

"Agreed. But the problem is that the other groups are not gonna just let us get it back without a fight. We need to be on guard, and prepared for anything." Kenji replied back, as he had the sense that the odds of them finding and getting the Jinchuriki back so easily is the absolute best case scenario would be next to impossible.

-----------
"Well.....might not be the best tall tale but I guess since you guys did I'd only be fair to tell you a bit about my folks." Tomiko said, since this had been turned into story-time session she felt she wanted to add in without feeling left out. Even if her parents had no remarkable ninja tales to talk about.

"Well, my parents met in the slums of Iwagakure. My mother was a painter, my father a writer. But both had one passion they shared....baking. They actually met when both went in to the old bakery and ended up ordering the same thing. A-a bit cheesy I know." Tomiko said with a sheepish grin as she rubbed the back of her head before she continued.

"Anyway, both saw how tough things were but also saw a much needed market. By their admission, the old bakery there had been a bit "lackluster" which granted isn't that crazy given we don't get the high end products those in the main city have. Still, with what they could get and a bit of creativity they opened up their own little stand. They got better with time, and soon enough that little stand turned into the best bakery in the slums if I do say so myself; heck I'd even put them higher than some in the main city. Though I think Mori would fight me on that one." Tomiko said with a light chuckle.

Her parent's story had not been "fantastical" like Katsuo's parents and Mori's, but it did teach Tomiko the values of perseverance even in hard times. Lessons she had held true to her heart ever since. Even if they were not ninja, they had been the coolest that much she believed in.

-----------
Kakashi had an eyebrow raised. Hinagiku explaining the basic information on the Jinchuriki and what information they had on it had been more than expected. Hinagiku's insistence that her team would run interference on foreign nin while Kakashi's team would be tasked with tracking and catching the Jinchuriki. A divide an conquer idea, which was a plausible enough out out for Hinagiku though if her group gets boxed out by one enemy faction it would leave all others on them which decreased their chance for success.

But Kakashi would hold his tongue on that, as his focus shifted to what actually had caused him to raise his eyebrow; the giant chicken that had been summoned and had just as quickly worked to snatch up Furijia as she was carried away. Sakura herself seemed both stunned, confused and horrified all at once.

W-what the hell?
A chicken? Are you actually serious?

Either way, Sakura got over the shock or at least tried to as she jumped after the chicken. Sakura had her hands as she moved behind Lady Hingaiku...no easy task as she seemed to speed off at near super speeds which forced Sakura to do the same, though given the different in ability she could only barley keep up as her plan was to use a Genjutsu if and when she caught up on the chicken to try and immobilize it.
 
Last edited:
"Hey, so far your parents are on top of the Best Bakery list so I won't argue about that. And I know my bakeries, had enough time to check them during my truancy." Mori said, snickering. "Besides, your parents seem to be kind and generous people despite their living condition which is something to admire. There are enough people who have much better lifes yet are absolute prunes and care only about themselves, so your parents are certainly people to admire." He said as if it was unable to argue about it.

"What do you think? Should we ask Lady Guren if she wants to join our conversation or not? Not quite sure how this thing flies but if it needs her concentration then we should leave her alone. The ground is a ways from here and although I might be able to cushion my fall with Hiding Like a Mole, I am not sure about you two so I won't take the risk if you are not comfortable with it." He said as he looked to Guren, then to the ground and finally rested his gaze on Katsuo and Tomiko.

--------------------------

"That is doable I'd say, even if it takes four days only the Kiri squad would be there sooner than us since it is in their country and even then they still need to search the islands of the Land of Water. And I am expecting complications, a lot of them actually but I will try my best to keep that from happening. Darui sensei, do you think that we are going to actively take part in fighting or do you have a different role for us? Surely the other villages would send their elite so I can imagine if you want us to stay safe."

Taji began to speed up the rate at which she said words, her stoic mask was starting to show cracks as they got closer to their goal. She just hoped that she could keep it together long enough to make the mission a succes. After all, that was what they expected from her right? To succeed in every task at hand and to become a perfect ninja, one that didn't show emotion.
 
Hinagiku

"Careful child, the initial meeting between summoners and their summon should not be interrupted, it may adversely affect the relationship between them."

Interrupting Sakura with her voice, she warned against her genjutsu interruption of Furījia's predicament. "She'll be safe, I'm here after all." Swelling behind her voice was an unmistakable confidence and conviction, nothing could touch her daughters while she was around. "In fact, return to Kakashi, inform him we'll rendezvous up ahead. Also, inform him not to be hasty, A poor man bears the crime of a jade ring. I'd rather he not paint a target onto his own back."

 
Shura listened to Hinagiku's briefing of their mission. He took in the information about the Jinchuriki and what their team's role is. "I see, so all we need to do is to provide support, sounds simple enough." He thought. Shura heard the info about the Jinchuriki. "The Jinchuriki sounds like a tough opponent, so Sir Kakashi's team has to deal with her." He added in his thoughts. He continued to process the rest of the information such as the Kumo's Valkyries and how they're forbidden from engaging them. "Understood."

Shura watched as the situation with Furijia's new summon happened. "Huh, it would be best to leave the summoner and summon deal with this alone as an interruption could damage their bond." He thought as he proceeded to the rendez vous point. He heard Sagiso freak out but paid no attention towards it.
 
‘That’s one... two... and three.’

Kiro looked at his fingers as he counted the Hyūga who had darted away. Well, one of them didn’t seem to have much choice in the matter. To think he would see the day a summon kidnapped a child, especially by such a creature.

The Filolial itself seemed to be fit for royalty. Seeing the electricity flow so fluidly accross it’s body, the lightning arcing through the feathers, along with the countless sparks raining down afterwards had Kiro in awe. That wasn’t even counting the dark blue bolt of lightning which struck the horizon.

It was also fast. Hinagiku was fast and so was Sagisō. For him to potentially reach that level of speed required him to use a broken technique, literally. Sakura also tailed after them but he figured she would be useless. Other than that, Kiro began to digest most of the information Hinagiku had given the group. The woman even called him out, appearing to remember his earlier question. It was weird that she took this long but Kiro would take what he could get.

Other than the valuable information on the jinchuriki, what really caught Kiro’s attention was when Hinagiku mentioned ‘Limelight’. Apparently it was a contender for strongest lightning jutsu currently in existence. A technique so destructive that it could vaporize anything within its boundaries. Though Kiro would’ve loved to have an attack like that in his arsenal, it required four highly skilled lightning users.

Either way, Kiro was a fan of lightning style and would’ve loved to see the technique in action. He probably wouldn’t get the chance now considering they would be splitting up. The Hyūga head still hadn’t stated which group he was apart of. According to Hinagiku’s orders, the genin weren’t even expected to capture the jinchuriki but instead provide assistance.

‘I’m a chunin though, what?’

Maybe he was classified as a prisoner in this mission. That would make sense. What group would he be apart of though? Kiro assumed Hinagiku would elect to take her family with her for some vengeance. Going on the assumption the byakugan could track the tag, it probably wouldn’t matter which group he went with. Though if the tag was a fake, then it would probably be smart to have a Hyūga watching over one or both prisoners.

Kiro mentally cursed the tag’s very existence. There was something he was probably missing. Then again, that would only matter if Kiro wanted to escape. The idea of escape did cause Kiro to go back to his earlier thoughts about the three Hyūga. He scanned the rest of the group and quickly located Shura, who had started to slowly follow after the others.

‘Four. So clearly the most incompetent one is that child.’
 
"Ideally, no. It would be my responsibility to deal with the Jinchuriki and the direct fighting, you three are supposed to act as support and nothing more." Darui explained, as he addressed Taji's question while he focused on steering though he had been quick to add an additional point.

"So, and I know this goes without saying, don't go looking for a fight on this. Try to avoid one if you can, but if you are in a situation where a fight is unavoidable don't be stupid either. We can't count on things playing by preferred conventions, so defending yourselves is to be expected. For that reason, you three are to stay with each other at all times. If you must leave me behind so be it, I can handle myself more more assuredly than any of you can if the situation goes south. Don't go off on your own and please don't try to be the hero. Much of a pain the former would be that would be even more so. Strength in numbers cannot be understated." Darui explained to not just Taji, but also Aisha and Kenji as the latter had stopped site seeing and moved by the pair to listen in on the conversation.

Both Kenji and Aisha seemed to understand his words enough, and knew this mission was quite serious given Darui's tone as they nodded in understanding.
 
Top